More good news

I heard from Elizabeth Dole today (okay, I got a form letter from her, but hey, she really knows how to work that mail-merge function). The letter was in response to the letter I sent her last November.

She tells me that H.R. 2391 was not passed by Congress, which means we cannot be jailed for bringing a camcorder into a movie theater, and we will continue to be able to fast-forward through commercials without fear of criminal repercussions. Dole even has a fairly reasonable-sounding catchphrase for why she was opposed to the legislation: “We must be careful to preserve consumer freedoms as we develop ways to safeguard intellectual property rights.”

Of course, I’d phrase that a little more strongly: so-called “intellectual property” laws are now badly skewed in favor of existing rightsholders. Intellectual freedom is in jeopardy, and we must resist efforts to “strengthen” these laws by further restricting freedom.